Daily Bread to dedicate its new home

Updated 7:54 pm, Friday, July 20, 2012

Photo: Helen L. Montoya, San Antonio Express-News

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Volunteers from the Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston help clean the new food distribution headquarters for Daily Bread Ministries. The program is relocating its food distribution headquarters from downtown to a warehouse on Rittiman Road. It provides 163,000 square feet compared to its old location with nearly 6,300. The nonprofit ministry is planning to dedicate the space on Saturday July 21.

Volunteers from the Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston help clean the new food distribution headquarters for Daily Bread Ministries. The program is relocating its food distribution headquarters from

Volunteers from the Champion Forest Baptist church in Houston help prepare the new food distribution headquarters for Daily Bread Ministries for the dedication ceremony planned for Saturday July 21. The program is relocating its food distribution headquarters from downtown to a warehouse on Rittiman Road. It provides 163,000 square feet compared to its old location with nearly 6,300. The nonprofit ministry is planning to dedicate the space on Saturday July 21.

Volunteers from the Champion Forest Baptist church in Houston help prepare the new food distribution headquarters for Daily Bread Ministries for the dedication ceremony planned for Saturday July 21. The

Matthew Jones power washes the floor at the new distribution headquarters for Daily Bread Ministries on Thursday July 12, 2012. The program is relocating its food distribution headquarters from downtown to a warehouse on Rittiman Road. It provides 163,000 square feet compared to its old location with nearly 6,300. The nonprofit ministry is planning to dedicate the space on Saturday July 21.

Matthew Jones power washes the floor at the new distribution headquarters for Daily Bread Ministries on Thursday July 12, 2012. The program is relocating its food distribution headquarters from downtown to a

Randy Oliver, owner of Hollywood-Crawford, right, stands with Tammy Baird of Daily Bread Ministries outside the non-profit group’s new location on Rittiman Road. Hollywood-Crawford Door Company made a $2,500 donation Daily Bread Ministries to help provide food to those in need in the San Antonio area.

Randy Oliver, owner of Hollywood-Crawford Door Co., gives a $2,500 donation to Tammy Baird of Daily Bread Ministries to help provide food to those in need in the San Antonio area. Hollywood-Crawford recently earned a $25,000 award for earning the highest customer satisfaction ratings out of more than 550 other garage door companies across the country as part of a reward program from American Home Shield, a home protection plan company. Hollywood-Crawford is donating part of the award to local non-profits.

Randy Oliver, owner of Hollywood-Crawford Door Co., gives a $2,500 donation to Tammy Baird of Daily Bread Ministries to help provide food to those in need in the San Antonio area. Hollywood-Crawford recently

For 15 years, Daily Bread Ministries has leased a former grocery store where its volunteer network arrives to pick up donated food to give to the poor in the region and as far away as Mexico.

The nonprofit agency at 700 W. Houston has forged a niche as the largest Christian food bank in the area, attracting many likeminded believers fervent about meeting hunger needs along with prayer and a salvation message.

But Daily Bread had to start looking for a new campus about a year ago when it learned the property was being sold.

The ministry ended its search earlier this year by buying the former Lack's warehouse at 6351 Rittiman Road. A dedication is set for today at the 163,000-square-foot facility. This week, the ministry will begin to relocate and plans to conduct its first distribution there July 28.

“We are going to celebrate the possibilities,” said Chuck Farmer, executive director. “This is totally a miracle. You just know that God is up to something big, and it's humbling.”

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The nonprofit Christian ministry began in 1996 in a garage and grew when it set up at its downtown campus. There, leaders said it has used about 10,000 square feet of space to store food and give it out to churches and ministries for redistribution in their communities.

“We've gone from reaching a few to reaching literally thousands of men and women of all ages,” said Becerra, who oversees 13 churches on both sides of the Texas-Mexico border. “Mexico is in desperation for hope because of the government, the sex trade and human trafficking. And resources are very limited. People are coming because we're filling a need.”

With a much larger building, Daily Bread is brainstorming new charitable uses, leaders said, from subleasing to other nonprofits at an affordable rate to providing cooking and nutrition classes, and from opening up a coffee shop to creating a community center for youth.

The organization has six staff members and 160 churches and ministers in its network. Food goes mainly to ministries in poorer sections of the city but also to Seguin, Eagle Pass, the Rio Grande Valley and Mexico. To help with a down payment, it held a gala in March and raised a record $160,000.

It benefited from buying a foreclosed property a bank wanted to clear off its books. Daily Bread bought it in March for $2.45 million, Farmer said. It obtained a low-interest $2.35 million loan from the Corpus Christi-based Ed Rachal Foundation, which provides grants and other support to nonprofit agencies.

The ministry has grown from giving out 3 million pounds of food four years ago to nearly 6 million pounds last year. The new warehouse has 36 bays for vehicles to load donated food items and three levels along a portion of the building that can handle a variety of uses.

At the new building, Daily Bread will continue its tradition of praying with volunteers — in a circle holding hands — before their work. The ministries receiving donations also typically pray with recipients.

For Last Chance Ministries, Daily Bread has made it possible to feed 900 families from its headquarters on the West Side during the last two months.

“They see a need, and they meet the need,” said Jimmy Robles, head of Last Chance Ministries. “It's not just about giving food away. It's about spiritual food and always empowering people with a word from God that they're not going to be like this forever.”